Christian Living

DO ALL OF YOUR EXPERIENCES LINE UP WITH GODS WORD?

by Dr. Timothy Hoflund 
09/19/25
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You know, it is truly wonderful to have experiences in life that line up with God’s Word!

Hi there, I’m Dr. Timothy and I’m just sayin’, however, if we’re using experiences to prove or even explain God’s Word, then we’re looking at God’s Word from the wrong point of view!

Why do I say this? Well, over the years I have heard God’s people talk about having some experience or another and then say something like, “and this just proves that God’s Word is really true!”

And for many years, up until some years ago, I also said the same thing - that this or that experience just proved or showed the truth of God’s Word!

Now again, to be clear, it is truly wonderful to have life experiences which seem to verify what God says! And we’ll look at that more in just a moment, but let me ask you this: “Have you ever really considered the true relationship between God’s Word and your experiences?”

Let me ask this another way – Does God need your experiences to prove that His Word is Truth? Do you need to have experiences in every area of life in order to believe that God’s Word is true for every area of your life?

What about those experiences which do not seem to line up with God’s Word - - or what you believe God’s Word says? Do your experiences, then prove that God’s Word is not true in those cases? Think about it honestly, we cannot have it both ways, either God’s Word is true all of the time, or really it is not true at all!

Now why is this so important? Well, we should remember that God’s Word tells us that faith comes by HEARING God’s Word! The basis for living for God’s people is by faith and not by sight! 2 Corinthians 5:7_(NKJV)“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

So, what we’re really talking about here is experience based faith and not Word-based faith!

You see, the perspective that relies upon “experiences proving God” is the wrong point of view because it is basing our faith in God upon our experiences of how we think God should perform based on what we want God’s Word to mean!

If we would really be honest, when we say that this or that experience proves or shows that God’s Word is true, we’re really saying that, in these cases, God has lived up to our own expectations! And, like I just said, many years ago, I would say the same thing - - something happened and so that “thing” would be the proof of God’s Word being true!

You see, in those years, I would search for the Bible promises that seemed to answer my current crisis or need and claim for myself those promises which seemed to be the answer to what I needed at the time. Then when those promises came to pass, I would declare how true God is because He met that need based on what I found in His Word!

Then some things began to happen that no longer fit that model of “God’s Word being proven by our experiences!”

There came a time when The Lord began asking me if He was a liar? He asked me if He was true regardless of what I experienced, then He began giving me some life lessons that taught me the correct relationship between His Word and what we experience!

Just one of those life lessons happened in the early 1990’s when we experienced a miraculous “ruling reversal” by the IRS in one 24-hour period!

For months I had been trying, unsuccessfully, to remedy a tax problem that I myself had created … and during yet another phone conversation, the IRS told me emphatically and finally that they had ruled that they would not allow most of the past refunds which would have cleared the tax debt! Then, praying about this after that phone call, the Lord was leading my wife to call one more time … which she did the next morning. During that phone call they totally reversed all their previous rulings and cancelled the tax lien they had filed against us!

Most definitely, this was an answer to our prayers! Being surprised and yet puzzled, I asked the Lord why this miracle happened, and He led me to Proverbs 16:7_(NKJV)“When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

Immediately after reading this passage I received the understanding of how experience and God’s Word are truly connected! Finally! I understood that it is God’s Word that explains to us the things we experience in life, and not the other way around!

Now, this was not a one-time event, but just one of many that continue through this day! Events that teach that we should not try to prove God’s Word by our experiences - but rather we should examine God’s Word to prove our experiences! By this I mean to go to God’s Word to test, validate, verify, or explain why we have particular experiences in life!

I have also found that our experiences always do line up with God’s Word! God’s Word is always fulfilled in our experiences and so to understand our experiences we really must turn to God’s Word seeking understanding about why “this” or “that” happened in our lives!

A moment ago, I had mentioned looking for and claiming God’s promises. Now claiming God’s promises in the Bible is not at all a bad thing to do, but there have been times that I have found -- then claimed -- some particular promise in the Bible which simply never came to pass! Then I would ask the Lord why He did not “keep” this particular promise. The answer, as I would discover, is that He never made THAT particular promise to me, personally!

Uh-oh! Dr. Timothy God’s Word says that ALL the promises of God in Christ are yes and in Him Amen! So are you saying that God does not keep all His promises?

Not at all! I am saying, however, that not ALL of His promises are made to every single one of His people! Not ALL of His promises apply to ALL of His people ALL of the time!

Also, even the promises that do personally apply have a key component, or condition, upon which their fulfillment is contingent. That contingency is this:  We must agree that the purpose of THOSE promises is to glorify HIM in our lives … and not just to simply make us happy! The primary purpose of every promise of God is that HE be glorified. If we will not be faithful to glorify Him, He is notobligated to “keep” those promises!

2 Corinthians 1:19-20 _(NKJV) “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us--by me, Silvanus, and Timothy--was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

So what about when we have bad experiences or bad things happen … are you saying that these bad things fulfill God’s Word?

Well, ask The Lord to show you this answer in His Word, because yes - it may not be something we did wrong to bring on bad experiences but He tells us that His people will be persecuted and spitefully used by others and that we are not immune from suffering in life!

Sadly, there are those whose teachings imply -- or even explicitly state -- that there is some kind of “faith formula” to which God must favorably respond so that our life experiences will always prove just how faithful He really is!

Well, think about this - with just a single exception - God never suggests that our experiences should be used to prove Him or His Word to be true! (See: Malachi 3:6-12)

However there are many instances given in His Word which illustrate or declares that HE is proving US through our life experiences!

Hmmm … so what do our experiences really prove? Do they prove His truth and His faithfulness … or do they  prove our faithfulness to His truth in every instance of life

I’m Dr. Timothy and I’m just sayin’ … prayerfully think on these things!